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[chaincutter]

Who: a_slayer_slays and chaincutter
What: A friendly spar
When: July 9th, midday
Where: The Barracks
Summary: A couple months and a few minor bouts of Luceti-wide doom later than expected, Sigmund is finally giving Buffy that shield demonstration he promised.
Rating: PG/PG-13 depending on how serious they get about things

Comments

[slaying]

Combat always brought up such tough questions for Buffy Summers. What should she focus on? How should she hold herself? Which weapon should she bring with her? But--most importantly--what should she wear? Pumps were a bit too full of bravado. A skirt, though viable, still raised complications with raising hemlines. Hair up, or down? That mattered less.

When Buffy finally did leave the house and head for the barracks, she didn't carry an umbrella on her shoulder. Instead, a replica of her home-favourite scythe. As she walked from house forty-seven, Buffy keenly took the opportunity to muse on who had forged this scythe for her. She had given the specifications to Edward shortly after she had settled down in Luceti; while the weapon did not pack the same supernatural punch as the real one, it did not otherwise disappoint

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The scythe drew his attention, and he gave it a quick glance even before he answered her. It was hard to be certain, but he thought he saw Edward's craftsmanship in it. The man had a way with metal.

That done, he finally broke his statuesque stance and picked up the wooden shield he brought with him. With one of his own followers, someone from home, he might have simply held it out and made them come to him. Buffy was not one of his followers, and he wasn't sure of the proper boundaries. To be safe, he closed about half of the distance and offered it out to her.

"For later."

...No one would ever claim that Sigmund was a man inclined to polite conversation. Not even Edward.

[slaying]

"Let me guess," she asked as she reached for the shield. "Does later include dessert?" A smile, slight and uncertain, accompanied her quip. In Buffy's mind it was clear that she did not actually mean dessert; instead, she means the fun part of the spar. The part beyond the sizing each other up and the mutual testing of boundaries. The part that most of her combat-oriented relationships had long ago reached. The Slayer had to admit that it was strangely nerve-wracking. Like a first date, only not quite as scary. Ha.

But if it was indeed for later, then Buffy decided to set the shield aside. She kept her scythe close despite the fact that she was just as cozy with hand-to-hand as melee. If she looked at all professionally wary, it was when she sized up his armour. She could not assume this man was just another mortal. Not in this village--things rarely worked out that way.

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"I know one recipe with no vermin," he joked, not that it was easy to distinguish from anything else he ever said. He would probably have more luck with humor if everything wasn't delivered completely seriously. ...Although, truthfully, that could be taken as a legitimate warning